Allergic to technology

A British university is trying to unravel the truth behind a
21st century "disease" produced by electrical equipment.

Ryan Warne says he suffers so badly from electromagnetic
hypersensitivity (EHS) he has to view a computer through binoculars
and, when he goes outside, he wears a special "hairnet" to protect
him from electromagnetism from phone masts.

Warne, 35, is a volunteer in the largest-ever study to determine
if the masts affect human health. The research, which is being
conducted by the University of Essex and is due to be completed at
the end of the year, is examining the effects of electromagnetic
fields on 264 people, half of whom are sensitive to mobile-phone
technology.

EHS sufferers, who include Gro Harlem Brundtland, the former
Norwegian prime minister and director-general of the World Health
Organisation, experience headaches, nausea and burning sensations
when near mobile phones, laptops and other equipment.

Warne gave up his job in a furniture showroom two years ago
when, he says, a new, wireless computer system made him ill.

"I can't watch television for long and when I want to use the
computer I have it on in one room and sit in the hallway looking at
the screen through binoculars."

Dr Stacy Eltiti, a senior research officer at Essex University,
says: "There are quite a range of symptoms associated with
sensitivity. Unfortunately, a lot of them are common in everyday
life. They include difficulty concentrating, memory problems,
headaches, heat in the head and ringing in the ears.

"Some people have to leave work or move house and can't even go
out shopping."

"But the widespread use of new electrical devices in the home
and workplace, at the same time that original technologies based on
microwaves have been introduced, has spread this environmental
trigger," he said.